Prosecuting violent crimes and sexual assaults, providing culturally responsive victim services, and intervening in the lives of young people, especially those most at risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of gun violence, are among the priorities incoming King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion touched on before taking her oath of office Monday.
She called her swearing-in ceremony before a packed courtroom in the King County Courthouse “a celebration,” saying that being the first woman and the first person of color to hold the office was the honor of her life.
Manion, 53, was recognized by the Korean Prosecutors Association, whose executive director, Jerry Baik, flew to Seattle from Los Angeles to attend the ceremony and present Manion with a plaque honoring her as the country’s first Korean American woman to be elected prosecuting attorney.
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison introduced Manion and noted that they are the first women — and mothers — to hold their respective positions. She commended Manion for her work to expand victim services, promote data-driven strategies to prevent gun violence and work with a regional group that removes firearms from households experiencing domestic violence.
With a backlog of 4,000 charged felony cases, Manion said resolving cases that have stacked up during the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to innovate.
“We can and must envision a justice system where prosecutors, public defenders and our judges are willing to try new approaches to how we do our work,” Manion said. “I believe we can challenge ourselves to be creative and let go of past practices that are no longer working so we can deliver justice in a more timely manner and protect our employees from burnout and mental and emotional fatigue.”
And while Manion said she will wait a week or two before announcing changes she plans to make to the prosecutor’s office, she proposed changing the name of the office’s Equity and Social Justice Committee to the Race, Equity and Social Justice Committee.
“We cannot dismantle racial disparities in our legal systems or build racial equity in our King County communities if we do not intentionally talk about and focus on race,” she said.
She spoke of her and her younger brother’s experiences growing up in a predominantly white community in Kentucky and the way her brother was singled out for punishment at school, and how as a teenager he was pulled over by a police officer for a robbery that didn’t happen.
“The sad reality that I could lose my brother simply because of the color of his skin is an experience I share with far too many,” Manion said. “And this story is an example of why we must continue our work to eliminate the bias and systemic inequities from our justice and legal systems.”
She choked up when talking about the county’s Asian and Korean communities that embraced her as “a long lost daughter” during the election campaign and said she realized having her heritage seen and accepted “was a piece of myself that I had been missing.” She also acknowledged that women and people of color working among the roughly 500 employees in the prosecutor’s office have been hurt by bias and microaggressions but that the office can heal and become a more equitable workplace.
Manion’s old boss, now-retired Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, said Manion’s swearing-in was historically significant, “not just because she’s been a bunch of firsts but she’s also only the fifth prosecutor in 74 years.”
Satterberg, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz and King County Executive Dow Constantine were among the attorneys, judges, faith leaders, social-service providers, elected officials and campaign volunteers who turned out to cheer on Manion.
Her partner, Perry Tarrant, a retired assistant Seattle police chief, presented Manion with a bouquet of red roses — prompting laughter when Manion expressed her surprise that he did indeed have a romantic bone in his body. Her ex-husband, Tim Manion, and children Christopher, 18, and Natalie, 15, were also in the audience.
“To say I’m overwhelmed would be a tremendous understatement,” Manion said as the crowd rose to their feet to applaud her. “I am so happy and grateful to be here.”
Manion also singled out 5-year-old Melody Kay-Umetsu, who drew Manion a picture commemorating the day.
Outside the courtroom, Melody’s mom, Laura Umetsu, said her daughter was upset when she learned she was too young to vote for Manion. Umetsu, who is Japanese American, an attorney and a board member with the Seattle chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said she supported Manion’s platform to address underlying mental health and addiction issues to stop behavior that leads to crime.
“Representation matters. It really resonated with me that she’s an Asian American woman,” Umetsu said.
Manion, who has spent her entire 28-year legal career in the prosecutor’s office, won November’s general election — the first open race for King County prosecutor in more than four decades — against Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell, capturing nearly 58% of the vote.
During the campaign, Ferrell emphasized “resetting” an office he painted as having gone overboard on social justice reform, while Manion highlighted her work on reform efforts, including a youth diversion program, and stressed collaborative efforts to address public safety.
Manion, who earned her law degree from Seattle University School of Law, spent the past 15 years as Satterberg’s chief of staff. He announced early last year that he would not seek a fifth term.
Information from The Seattle Times’ archives is included in this story.